Palette Club exhibit at Penn State LV
The Bethlehem Palette Club’s “All-Member Exhibition” is back for a second year in Penn State Lehigh Valley’s Ronald K. De Long Gallery with 34 non-juried submissions, concluding with a closing reception, 1 p.m.-3:30 p.m. July 27.
“This is the best space we’ve had for it,” says Exhibit Chairperson Pam Baylis. “We’ve been very lucky. We have had two years in a row here.”
The PSU Lehigh Valley gallery affords exhibiting three-dimensional works.
First place was awarded to Jeanne Stock’s “Afternoon Apple” (pastel). Richard Farmer’s “Caladium Dance” (watercolor on aqua-board) fetched second. “January Moon” (oil on board) by Claire Davis placed third.
Although Baylis did not score an award for her “Fantasy Fish Tank” (mixed media), her adult daughter, Erin Hopwood, received an honorable mention for her clever, mixed-media sculpture “Owl Marionette.” With its wings rigged to flap with the twist of the wrist, it’s Hopwood’s first attempt at creating a marionette.
“I’m a portrait painter,” she says. “ Normally, sculpture is not my thing.” Hopwood is a costume designer for the Lafayette College Department of Theater.
Honorable mentions went to Ginny Atwell’s “Branch Office” (graphite and colored pencil), Karen Benco’s “Trexler Park Blossoms” (watercolor) and Susan Levin’s “Tropical Flowers Scarf” (dyes on silk).
“I like the idea of trying to select from different media,” says Ronald K. De Long Gallery Director Ann Lalik, juror for the Palette Club exhibition.
In selecting winning pieces, she says, “It has to speak to me on an emotional level.”
Lalik cites “January Moon” by Davis as an example. “There’s a little oil of the moon. And it’s teeny, and it’s simple, and it’s sweet,” she says, adding, “Every time I look at it, I feel warmth in my heart.”
The Bethlehem Palette Club, founded in 1947, provides “opportunities for members to learn, exhibit and network with other artists.”
The club also hold two juried exhibits annually. Information: bethlehempaletteclub.org
Ronald K. De Long Gallery, Penn State Lehigh Valley, 2809 Saucon Valley Road, Center Valley, Upper Saucon Township. Gallery hours: 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Friday, Saturday. Closed Sunday. lehighvalley.psu.edu/gallery; 610-285-5261